For Body Appreciation Week, we went to your teachers, to hear more about their story,what their self love journey has been (and continues to be…we are always learning and evolving!), what they love most about their bodies, and how they show their bodies love and respect each day.

Q: What is your favourite part or capability of your body?

Miss Alison – honest answer…that it can dance… every time I dance (or exercise), I’m amazed and so grateful that my body can move and feel music. It’s a gift.  That it was able grow another human is also so spectacular!

Miss Victoria – I love that my body is capable of keeping up when I push my physical limits.

Miss Alia – I like my arms. I always do the arm choreo full out (in the hopes of encouraging super clean arms from the students). I like the ability to be able to hit those clean and precise arm lines in class.

Miss Kelli– I love my body and the things it has let me do. It allowed me to be a dancer growing up, a professional dancer in my 20s, a mom (bearing two children) and a dance teacher.

What did you not like about your body when you were younger, that you’ve come to love as an adult?

Miss Courtney – I grew up not really loving my body. That’s why it’s so important to me to instil this in our dancers at Snap….and where Body Appreciation week came from. Over the years, I have developed an appreciation for what my body does everyday. My heart beats around 115,000 times each day and pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood. Pound for pound, my bones are stronger than steel. And more recently, my body grew 2 babies (Felix and Cecilia)…that was an incredible, and exhausting, process.

Miss Alison – I’ll be honest, when I was younger…not much. I was really hard on myself and it was never good enough. As I’ve gotten older, I continuously work on appreciating my body for what it is and what it does for me. I’ve learned that it’s not what I look like that makes me valuable. That’s not what makes an impact on people. My words, my heart, and who am is what matters.

What is the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome (or are working to overcome) when it comes to body love and appreciation?

Miss Jill – My biggest obstacle when it comes to body appreciation has been overcoming my tendency to compare myself to other body types. I felt it growing up in the competitive dance world, and I sometimes still feel it in my university training! But, what I always try and remember is that our bodies don’t have to look a certain way in order to accomplish hard physical tasks – and they certainly don’t have to live up to anyone’s beauty standards!

Miss Alison – This week at the studio is near and dear to my heart, as my personal work has been to appreciate what my body does rather than what it looks like. It’s something I still work on every day, that I’m no where near perfect at, but that I know is the truth.  Life is so much more fun and meaningful when you aren’t concerned with what you look like or what others think of you!

Miss Kelli – When I was 14, I was in an accident and I spent a month in hospital. I had damaged my kidney pretty severely I was left with a scar on my body and some muscle issues. I had to learn how to use the centre of my core again. This was very difficult. But as I have grown my body has helped me heal that scar and muscle damage. Even though the recovery was long, my body was able to do that for me. I am forever thankful to be able to dance still and also be able to teach dance.

Morgan – Something I have struggled with a lot, especially through my teen years, was learning that every body is different, and that is an amazing thing. My whole life I have picked at myself for not looking like the “other girls.” Now that I have had the chance to look back, I have learned that being different is not only special, but that it is a BLESSING. I love being unique and different, and I love being me.

Miss Meagan – I have had a lot of troubles with anxiety and depression and it’s been hard for me to experience and love life the way I should be, it took a lot of work for me to get to where I am today – where I can see myself as strong, powerful, smart, and successful. Where I can say that I’m proud of myself. Where I can let go of things and move on. I continue to fight for myself everyday and some days are not easy, but knowing my body and mind is strong enough to pull through helps my resilience. Honestly, being down and dark helped me to see how truly strong and powerful I was, and that is something amazing I love about my body and mind. Yes I can dance and am strong and flexible physically, but I know mentally I am working to be strong and flexible too. To keep myself strong and powerful mentally I have to actually schedule time for things that make me feel calm and relaxed, not just “down time” like tv time. I always used to use tv or social media to mentally step away but I now find it just distracts me from what I’m feeling, and I don’t actually feel better after. I find things like writing, colouring, and painting really help. I also really enjoy going for long walks where I can do wildlife photography, things that can make me feel proud to be who I am.

How do you show your body love and appreciation each day?

Miss Alison – I love to sleep (like really, really love to sleep 😉 – so getting enough rest is important to me, and my ability to be my best self.  Fresh air and movement every day I so important to me too!

Miss Victoria – I show my body appreciation by taking care of it. I fuel it with nutrient rich food, drink enough water and maintain bone and muscle through regular weight training, cardiorespiratory exercise and stretching.

Miss Jill – I show my body love by allowing it to recover. As dancers, we ask a lot of our bodies. In return, I make sure to give it the rest it deserves! For me, that typically means Epsom salt baths, sleep, and rolling out my muscles.

Miss Kelli – I continue to show my body love by nourishing it, drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep and exercising.

Miss Alia – I like to recharge my body with sleep. I have busy nights and it takes my brain a bit of time to wind down, but luckily I rarely have to be up at a certain time in the morning. I wake up when my body is ready (No alarm…except for the dog).

We truly believe in sharing our stories, struggles and learning. We believe that through sharing, we grow and learn, and we can impact and inspire others – and that’s what we are all here to do. We are all a work in progress. Honouring and owning our stories and loving ourselves through the process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.

We’d love to hear from you. Comment below and share your body-love and self-love journeys.